Peter Kater's career as a pianist started in Boulder, and this city continues to be his muse, nearly 30 years later.

There's something about the mountains and the energy of the city that ignites his fingers on the keys, he says. Since he moved back to Boulder six months ago, he's already composed 11 new songs.

"Boulder has always been a place that has inspired me to write a lot of music," Kater says. "Something about being here, it's like a need. I need to write. I need to play."

This city is where he released his first album called "Spirit" with a concert at the Chautauqua Auditorium, which launched his career, ultimately landing him seven Grammy nominations, more than 100 TV and film scores, many top-10 contemporary jazz recordings and the Environmental Leadership Award form the United Nations -- to barely scratch the surface. Kater is a multi-platinum selling pianist and composer who helped forge the genre of New Age music. You've likely heard his music while watching the Olympics and the Discovery Channel, and listened to his music while stretched out on a massage table.

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Kater will honor his Boulder roots tomorrow with a show at Chautauqua -- can you say "full circle?" -- alongside renowned Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai, in the duo's first concert in the state in a decade.

We spent a recent morning with Kater in his Boulder house, while he cooked lunch for his son, and we even got Kater to tickle the ivories for us live in his living room. Here's what we talked about. Check out dailycamera.com for a video.

You started playing the piano around age 7, and word is you were a bit of "trouble" for your piano teachers, because you insisted on playing classical tunes with your own sense of melody, time and structure. What compelled you to do that? And do you have any advice for other kids who may be struggling to fit into the pre-set boundaries of music or art?

It was an innocent rebelliousness. I just didn't want to play the songs the way they were written. In classical music, that's really not cool. I went through three teachers in one year, and I thought finally I was done with it. But my mother kept bringing me to new teachers. I clicked with a teacher who taught me how to improvise, to take any song and play it in any style. That was pivotal. That gave me permission to find my style and express myself uniquely.

I would want other kids to be encouraged to express themselves the way they think is fun and interesting, while learning the foundation. You need to have a balance. You need to have your voice and you need to have the skills to express yourself.

When did you realize this was going to be your career?

I didn't really realize it until after I recorded my first album. I thought that was going to be my only album. Then the producer said, "You'd better start working on the next record." It took me by surprise.

You are considered one of the instrumental artists who spearheaded New Age music. How does a new genre of music come about? What led you to evolve music into something that had never existed before?

I think there's an organic groundswell of something that several people are feeling at the same time, supported by the community that resonates with that, who think, "Wow, that's really cool. I've never heard that before." It just builds on itself, and it has to have a name eventually.

I don't think anyone in the New Age genre likes the New Age title, and for me, I wasn't really crazy about being pigeonholed there either. I wasn't like, "I think I'll write some New Age music." I was writing my music. It's a throwaway category, where stuff goes that doesn't fit anywhere else.

What do you think made you so successful?

Perseverance, meaning I didn't have plan B.

When I moved to Boulder, I encountered a lot of talented musicians. Then all of a sudden, that guy went and took a teaching job, because he couldn't deal with the ups and downs of being an artist. And then this other guy got in trouble and lost his balance and got out of the picture. I didn't have anything else to do, so when times got hard, I stuck it through, and when times got good, I enjoyed it, and when times got hard again, I knew that times would get good again if I just stuck it out, and it kept on going.

The other thing is I was fortunate enough to find my own voice creatively. I really can't do anything but me. I had a distinct feeling and sound that people could recognize.

What have been some of your biggest challenges along the way, and what have been some of the biggest rewards?

One of the biggest struggles has been to really be myself and not be swayed by other people's opinions of what I should do or try. Sticking true to my creative muse, my creative instincts. That has been my biggest struggle -- and my biggest reward. It's the same thing.

So how do you do it, though? How do you stay true to yourself?

It's hard. You have to have a lot of trust. You have to be willing to say, "Well, this is me. Take it or leave it." And who am I pleasing? I'm doing it for myself. When I'm recording a record, when I'm giving a concert, I'm trying to enjoy myself. I'm not trying impress anyone in the audience. I'm not trying to play what they want to hear. I'm all about making myself engaged, happy, interested, involved, because I know if I'm having a good time, if I'm being true to myself, people will pick up on that.

What are some of your favorite TV and film productions you were involved with?

A 13-hour series for the Discovery Channel called "How the West was Lost." It was really intense because it was so dramatic, but it was really easy to write music for it because the subject was so moving.

How do you write a score for a show? What is the process?

They give me the almost completed footage and basic notes, what they're looking for, where. "We need something that conveys the intensity of the battle." So I watch it, and I'm usually moved. I usually hear something, it just kind of comes to me. It's usually my first instinct that I follow. I try not to second-guess myself. It's one of my creative rules. You don't second-guess yourself, trust your first instinct, and never lie to your instrument.

You also have made music to complement the healing arts and therapies. How did you get involved in that?

I was always into getting bodywork and healing modalities. I was getting a massage and people were playing classical music. This was in the early '80s. And I'm lying there thinking to myself, "What does classical music written 100 to 200 years ago have to do with my life and unwinding from my life?" First of all, it's all very metered and structured. It comes from a period of time that is way different that right now; the stresses we have right now are way different than what those people were dealing with. And the music wasn't unwind music. It was societal music. Party music.

I thought, "There's a need for something here." My thought was music for the healing arts should provide a great amount of space and support, without really defining the space, without being too specific. It should create an atmosphere but not too spacey, because you don't want to get lost. It should have a thread of something to follow. And it should feel like it came from the heart, like it's a safe, nurturing space. I started recording what I would like to hear if I was lying on a massage table.

It caught on. I wasn't the only one. Other artists were thinking the same thing at the same time. My theory is creative ideas come down from the universe like raindrops, and people get hit with them at the same time, and whoever responds to it first in a creative, substantial way, they usually reap the rewards. We don't get creative ideas because they're ours. We get creative ideas because it's time.

So what role does music have in healing and wellness?

You can convey things musically that you just can't convey in words, because words are super limited. You can describe the box your feelings are in, but you can't describe feelings. If you're writing poetry, you can get closer. But with music, it bypasses the mind, it bypasses you thoughts, and it gets into places you might resist otherwise. Because words plug you into something someone else said; words are charged, positively or negatively. Whereas music really isn't.

How did you get involved with R. Carlos and how has your partnership with him help evolve your music?

I was in a period of doing contemporary jazz that my heart wasn't really in 100 percent. I did three or four albums in that genre and they were all top 10 albums, but I wasn't happy at all. I wasn't happy in that scene. This friend of mine gave me a cassette of R. Carlos', and I listened to it and thought it sounded really genuine. I started playing the piano along to it. I thought, "That sounds really cool, the piano and the flute." So I tracked him down and called him up, and we played this one song together on one of my CDs that I had played along to. We did a whole record together about a year later.

I realized playing with him was so natural and it connected me back to a part of myself that felt more genuine than the whole contemporary jazz scene. It was an invitation to really be myself on a deeper level.

What can Boulder expect from the upcoming show?

This is our first time playing together on the mainland in over 10 years. It's going to be kind of a reunion. We'll be playing songs from our records and improving new stuff.

What do you hope people get from the music?

Ultimately, a good time. I think what's unique about our music is it's really genuine. It's really authentic. We're really playing from our deepest selves. We're not doing a song and dance, not being flashy, not showing off our equipment, not high tech. We're just two guys who have been playing our instruments for decades, just really being present together, and the music we create usually has a deepening effect on people. They feel like they get in touch with a part of themselves they maybe don't access all the time.

On your website, you said you never wanted to play anything the same way twice. You said, "Being in the moment and spontaneous was and still is very important to me." How else is this reflected in your lifestyle and personality, beyond music?

I think the way I express through my music is an ideal way: it's present, it's spontaneous, it's really true to the moment, it's flowing, I don't resist things. Honestly, I'm not that way in real life. I come against myself and obstacles on the outside, I struggle sometimes. It's an ideal, and I can learn from it. If I could apply how I approach my instrument to how I approach my life and my relationships, which I do try, then there would be a lot of flow.